Pablo Varando's ColdFusion Blog

What does it mean to be a ColdFusion developer these days?

Posted At : December 6, 2008 7:42 PM | Posted By : Pablo Varando
Related Categories: Personal Thoughts

That was a conversation I was having today with a fellow ColdFusion developer... The developer I was speaking to (I will say no names) believes that if you are good with CFML, you're golden... I on the other hand agree somewhat, but think you have to know more then just CFML these days. A lot more!

Looking at market trends (don't forget I work in the HR industry under Taleo) you no longer can get just a ColdFusion job anymore. It seems those days are long gone. Long Long Gone!

These days, you have to know the extras. be it AIR, Flex, Ajax, OO or more (preferably more).

I think that you really need to learn a lot more then that if you want to continue to be successful in this market; but overall at the very least I'd say three things.

  1. ColdFusion Coding (CF Tags, Functions and a clear understanding of objects (CFC) and their relationship under OO.
  2. Flex. Maybe not be a flex guru; but know enough that you can debug an application and figure out why it isn't working; then get it working.
  3. OO. I can't voice this enough.. the days of building Coldfusion applications inline are pretty much over with; unless you are building something small for small client. Code reusability is not just a word; its quickly becoming a way of life in business. I have hardly seen any serious jobs out there that do not include at least (2) of these requirements. Usually OO/CF being the norm and Flex as a really nice to have.

So what are you thoughts... how do you see it? I want to hear from you.. post some comments because I am really interested in seeing how people (other then I) perceive the market and what it's doing.

Your thoughts?

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Craig H's Gravatar I agree that a straight cf developer will find it harder to find a job compared to someone that is more diverse. Although I would also throw in the list of the top three db managment and design. Alot of postings I have looked at are requiring it. Also Flex and Flash are higher ranked around the Atlanta Area at least for consideration. They want a cf backend with a kick ass Flex/Flash front end.
# Posted By Craig H | 12/7/08 3:51 AM
Pablo Varando's Gravatar Yeah, database is always a biggie... Though I more then often see it requested; a lot of shops have DBA's to handle the complex items.

Not things like select fieldid from table; but the complex things that you sometimes prefer to have a DBA do... like architecture. :)

I will say however that knowing and understanding t-SQL code and the tools it pretty much a given and should always, always, always be a part of developers knowledge. No exceptions!

Even if there isnt a DBA on staff; you will have to do a lot with databases; so yes I agree that should also be part of what you know! :)

-P
# Posted By Pablo Varando | 12/7/08 5:06 PM
Chris's Gravatar I have to agree with you all the way. You definitely need to be multi-skilled/talented these days. Just being a CF programmer is not going to cut it anymore.

However, I do have to inject this bit of information. I believe that CF needs some serious marketing. Out here in the bay area, CF jobs are scarcer than an albino alligator. I find that most of the CF jobs are on the east coast (DC/NY/Atlanta/etc). And because of this, I think I might need to move just to assure myself of a job, much less a steady income.

just my 2 cents. (and yes, I am self teaching myself Flex 3.0 and have to admit, it blows Javascript programming outta the water)
# Posted By Chris | 12/7/08 5:18 PM
Raul Riera's Gravatar Worrying abour databases its an step back in Web Applications, with alal the frameworks out there you shouldnt be worried about your data model AT ALL, I am currently developing my applications con ColdFusion on Wheels (since I also know Ruby on Rails this came in just BEAUTIFUL for me)

I suggest you give frameworks a try, stopping first at wheels of course :)

www.cfwheels.com
# Posted By Raul Riera | 12/8/08 3:18 PM
David's Gravatar I'd go one step further and say that you have to get out of the "developer" role altogether. Development is a commodity - anyone can do it, and most can do it for cheaper. You have to provide business solutions - the coding aspect is secondary. With ColdFusion, so much comes pre-packaged into simple code one-liners, that this fits the model perfectly. We're not quite there with Flex yet, but its going that way, for sure (just look at demo's for Adobe Catalyst, and Flex 4 previews, for example)

Cheers,

Davo
# Posted By David | 12/8/08 3:33 PM
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